Trump Opens Door to Putin and Xi Talks Without Zelensky as Ukraine Faces Russian Strikes and Missile Delays

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is willing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, even without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky present, while criticizing Kyiv’s leadership and defending his administration’s recent decisions on Russia.

Trump’s remarks came as tensions between Washington and Kyiv intensified over sanctions, military assistance and negotiations with Moscow. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Putin proposed a meeting with Trump and Xi next month to discuss ending the war, potentially without Zelensky. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said discussions about such a meeting had taken place, but no meeting had been confirmed.

Asked whether he would take part in a meeting without the Ukrainian leader, Trump said he was prepared to attend if it could help end the conflict. “Anything I can do to end the war, whether somebody's there or not. If President Xi wants to have it, I'd have it. I'm sure we'd talk about other things like trade too. But yeah, I would do that,” he told reporters.

Trump initially emphasized that he wanted to discuss nuclear disarmament with Putin and Xi, while portraying Russia’s conduct in Ukraine as restrained. “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much,” he said on October 19.

He also described Xi as fair toward Ukraine and suggested that neither China nor Russia had done as much as they could have. Trump said he appreciated their restraint, although it was unclear whether his comments about China referred to Beijing’s support for Russia or its own role in the war.

The remarks came on the same day that a Russian daytime drone strike in a public park killed six people, including two children, according to one report. The previous night, Russia had launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at Kyiv and attacked nearly 30 critical energy facilities across Ukraine. Another report said six people, including three children, had died in a strike near Kharkiv.

Trump did not address those attacks in his comments, instead praising Putin for what he described as restraint in Ukraine and Iran. He said Russia had not done much to help Tehran, despite Moscow’s close ties with Iran and reports that it had supplied drone components and ammunition, assisted missile development and shared intelligence to help Iran target U.S. bases in the Middle East. U.S. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed on April 30 that Russia was supporting Iran in its war with the United States.

Trump defended his recent dealings with Putin, including waivers from new sanctions on Russia and a proposed deal for Russian diesel supplies. He said Washington was negotiating with the Kremlin over the release of a high-profile hostage and praised Russia for what he called its restraint regarding Iran.

“It's nice because we're hitting Iran very hard, as you know, economically as well as militarily, and Russia's done nothing there that we can see, and I think that's a very positive,” Trump said.

He also claimed that the United States had given Ukraine substantial assistance without receiving anything in return. The president again criticized Zelensky after the Ukrainian leader said Trump was on the wrong side of history and accused Washington of pressuring Kyiv to accept terms favorable to Moscow.

Trump said Zelensky should have secured a settlement much earlier and questioned whether he should continue leading Ukraine’s negotiations.

“Zelensky is a man that should have had this war settled a long time ago. If he would have listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago and he'd have a million people living from his side,” Trump said. He added that he believed someone else should negotiate for Ukraine and accused Zelensky of not wanting to end the war.

Trump also referred to a woman he said he had seen on television criticizing Zelensky, but did not identify her. He quoted her as saying that Ukrainian men were dying, many had lost their legs and some were in mental institutions, and claimed she was well known and faced the prospect of imprisonment.

The U.S. president’s comments followed Zelensky’s accusation on October 18 that Trump was pressuring Ukraine to capitulate to Russia and delaying deliveries of interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems. On October 19, Trump again accused Zelensky of failing to pursue an end to the war.

The dispute has deepened following Washington’s decision to ease some sanctions to facilitate a diesel-supply agreement with Russia and Trump’s criticism of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, Trump announced on October 9 that Russia had agreed to supply millions of tons of diesel to the United States. He also ordered Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries.

Lawmakers and critics from both U.S. political parties condemned the diesel deal, arguing that it rewarded Moscow while Russian forces continued striking Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. They also said the war in Iran, rather than the war in Ukraine, was the principal driver of rising global oil prices.

Meanwhile, Zelensky accused the United States on Monday of deliberately delaying the delivery of interceptor missiles already paid for by European countries. Speaking to U.S. senators, he said the shipment was awaiting approval from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Several European countries were also ready to transfer Patriot interceptors from their own stockpiles but had yet to receive U.S. authorization.

“The missiles are ready, and they could already be in Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “But unfortunately, there is still no approval.”

Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent that Hegseth had not yet approved the transfer of a significant batch of Patriot interceptors financed by Kyiv’s allies, raising concerns that Washington was withholding the weapons to pressure Ukraine. NATO officials said deliveries under the purchasing initiative were continuing, including air defense equipment, while a U.S. government official disputed Ukraine’s allegations.

Zelensky also told Bloomberg that he had offered to suspend Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure in exchange for additional U.S.-made Patriot interceptors to protect against Russian ballistic missile attacks. Washington has been pressing Kyiv to stop targeting Russian refineries as tensions over American military support grow.

The Ukrainian president also said the country had received no advance warning from partners before powerful Russian missile attacks. Russia’s latest strikes hit energy facilities and infrastructure across Ukraine, cutting power to more than 500,000 people and forcing emergency repairs to the damaged grid.

The United States denied making changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking during a visit to Uzbekistan on Monday, rejected claims that intelligence cooperation had been withdrawn and backed Trump’s call for Zelensky to focus on ending the war. Trump also denied ordering a reduction in speeds on the U.S.-owned and -controlled Starshield network after Elon Musk, whose SpaceX developed the system, said such an order could only have come from the White House.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Norway this week for peace talks involving Zelensky and European officials before heading to Russia for a meeting with Putin, Reuters reported on October 19. The planned discussions in Oslo are expected to include Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, representatives of Britain, France, Germany and Poland, as well as the EU and NATO.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is also expected to join the talks remotely because of illness, according to one source cited by Reuters. The schedule remains tentative and may change.

Witkoff’s planned meeting with Putin is also expected to address the release of American citizen Stephen Hubbard, who was detained by Russia in 2022 and reportedly served with a Ukrainian territorial defense unit in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast.

The planned negotiations follow a phone call on October 18 between Zelensky, Witkoff and Kushner to discuss possible next steps toward a peace agreement. Zelensky also spoke with Pope Leo XIV on Monday, the Vatican said, days after the pontiff held a similar conversation with Putin. The Vatican said the pope had urged both sides to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky and permit civilians to leave.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow that the possibility of a three-way summit had been discussed, responding to the Wall Street Journal report that Putin wanted to meet Trump and Xi. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha warned that such a meeting without Kyiv would “only encourage Putin to continue this war.”

The war remains deadlocked, with Russia refusing to abandon its territorial claims and Ukraine rejecting attempts to force it to surrender land. Trump had promised to end the conflict swiftly after returning to office but has increasingly appeared to favor Moscow, including by calling for Zelensky to be replaced.